Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utility study finds shortfalls in standby, storm and sewer funds; consultants propose tiered water rates and higher standby fees
Summary
Consultants briefed the Hideout Town Council on a utility-rate study showing deficits in standby, storm and sewer funds after recent JSSD pass-throughs. They proposed tiered water pricing and illustrative increases (standby from about $21.83 to roughly $34.24/month for non-water customers) and asked staff for more data before a March decision.
A consultant told the Hideout Town Council on Feb. 12 that the town's combined utility accounting shows deficits in the standby, storm and sewer funds after reallocating costs and accounting for a recent sewer pass-through from JSSD.
"We've evaluated the utility system and ... provided a memorandum," consultant Fred said, summarizing the firm's work on cost-allocation methodologies including direct allocation, proportional allocation and asset distribution.
Why it matters: the town currently pools utility revenue and expenses in a single fund. The consultant recommended separating costs more clearly among water, sewer, storm and standby service so that users pay closer to the cost of the services they use or reserve. Under one proportional model presented to the council, the consultant illustrated that a monthly standby fee that had been reported at $21.83 would need to rise to about $34.24 for customers who do not take town water to eliminate the modeled deficit. Storm fees could rise toward roughly $16.21 per month and sewer face increases driven in part by a newly recognized JSSD charge.
The consultant and town staff emphasized that the numbers shown were illustrative and that additional work is needed before any final rate schedule: "We can definitely help look at what your tiering looks like, look at your usage data and determine what the trends look like," Katie Shupley, a town staffer, said, outlining next steps. Staff committed to provide three years of historical demand data to the consultant so a conservation-focused tiered water structure can be designed.
Capital planning and timing: Council members urged caution about immediately lowering water base rates, noting the town currently has little in a capital-improvement budget and that major projects may require cash reserves. "I would let that sit for a minute and say, 'Let's update our rates for standby, storm and sewer. Let's get our capital plans done and revisit that,'" Council member Brian said.
Other technical work: Town engineer Dennis agreed to run an impervious-area study to produce storm-fee metrics that would allocate costs more fairly between single-family and multifamily properties; staff estimated that charging per-meter rather than per-door was undercounting multifamily contributions and could add modest revenue.
Next steps: Staff and consultants agreed to circulate written rate scenarios well in advance of the March meeting and to aim for a March decision if data and the town's capital plan are available. The council also asked that proposed schedules and analyses be distributed to members ahead of any vote so members and the public have time to review them.
